Life Mission

Cha Jun Sung put his gun down and hit each of the gremlins one by one. As a beginner for the first time in the virtual game, he had made a series of mistakes.

Unlike back then, he was currently being resourceful with his bullets since he would die if he did not have them when he needed them. For real. He had to maintain his reason at every moment.

Kyak!

Such as this very gremlin.

Too bad for them, Cha Jun Sung was a predator they could not approach easily.

***

It had been one month since Cha Jun Sung delved into Life Mission in reality.

From the dwarf mission, his level had gone up little by little. Even within E-class missions, the difficulty depended upon the reward points.

When the reward was under 1000 points, the only differences were in the number of Level 1 mutants and the area they were in. It all went smoothly up to here.

Even if they came charging at him in numbers, they would still just be deadwood in front of his red fire.

The problem began when the missions reached over 1000 points. This was when the Level 2 mutants appeared. Though they came one by one, they were not to be underestimated.

The Level 2 mutants would send their underlings first and the bullet consumption increased. They had recognized the dangerous object. The intent of their enemy was obvious, but they could not prevent it.

It was impossible to kill dozens of mutants at the same time. He had purchased a generous amount of bullets because of this, but he used all of them up before he could fight with Level 2.

At times, they hid amongst their underlings and waited it out. They did not come at him openly. If they had charged at him without any thought, he would have been faced with a difficult situation.

What was fortunate was that most of the Level 2 battles were one-on-one. When the Level 2 minions were left over, there would not be more than 10 of them.

He stood his ground with his steel katana and sturdy armor.

In contrast to Level 1 mutants, each hit was stronger and damaged his plastic armor, but his impact tights still absorbed most of the shock.

Cha Jun Sung had proved that his equipment worked on Level 2 mutants.

As he accumulated experience, his intuition was revived. Grenades were a definite asset, and he began to use equipment like the Claymore with ease.

Though it was exhausting, he could not describe the pleasure he felt when he overcame all of the hardships and completed each mission. He felt alive every time.

He had gathered 80,000 points like this. The total was close to 110,000, but he had used some on repairing his equipment and buying expendables.

When he had completed a 1300 point mission to annihilate mutants, he had gained 5000 points. However, 30% of that would evaporate into thin air due to repair costs.

In the worst cases, there were times when 70% of what he earned disappeared. These were when his armor and tights had become so ragged that he had to replace them.

Ever since he reached missions over 1500 points, his equipment would come back as rags. It had already happened twice and it seemed like this time would become the third.

***

Tutututu!

Cha Jun Sung brandished his red fire. He just wanted one shot to hit.

He tried his best to hit his target, but it was not easy because it moved in a zigzag. Nothing worked, so he was just hoping for luck.

Kwang!

Huk!

Cha Jun Sung went flying a few meters at a hit to the chest. His already ragged shoulder patch shattered into debris.

Tutu!

Even while he was falling, he did not let go of the red fire. Roads were tough. He needed to stay alert so that the opponent would not undermine him.

Crunk!

Cha Jun Sung used his sword as a cane to stand up. His legs trembled. He took a deep breath and created a greater distance between himself and his approaching enemy.

Level 2 Mad Dog.

It was a crazy dog.

It was as large as a bear. Its tight muscles grotesquely shook between its veins as if it had been skinned.

It was as strong as it was large. But more than anything, it was fast.

“One is hard enough, but two!”

At first, he thought that there was just one. But while they fought, another one suddenly came in. He was unprotected, but he had turned his body and avoided being harmed.

Its biting strength was incredible, so his protective plastic patch was smashed.

After that, it was a ruckus. He fought as though he were rabid because he was in a situation where he was fighting one against two. He set off a grenade, brandished his gun, and swung his sword.

He somehow killed one, but the remaining Mad Dog’s actions became careful. Could it be because its companion met its death? . He did not approach it without thought.

Pewpew

The Mad Dog followed the movement of his red fire.

The bullets’ speed surpassed the speed of sound. With the Level 2 mutant’s eyesight, they might not have been able to see the bullets coming, but they could anticipate their direction.

Papat!

The Mad Dog hid behind a wall he had knocked over while jumping to avoid the bullets. The bullets could not penetrate the wall and bounced off.

Snap!

“Ow!”

He swore automatically. He was out of bullets. He had brought 1000, but he had used half on the two Mad Dogs. And he had not even been able to kill both.

Seurung!

Cha Jun Sung took his sword. He was in a dangerous situation, but he did not feel threatened.

It was his 30th Level E mission. Though he had never suffered any fatal wounds, he had sustained comparable injuries. Even if his arms and legs got cut off, all he had to do was complete the mission.

Keurung!

The Mad Dog crept out when Cha Jun Sung held his sword. It knew. It was fully aware of what was and was not a threat to it.

“Come on! I’ll slice you up!”

Tatat!

Cha Jun Sung provoked the Mad Dog and made the first attack. Instead of swinging the sword, he jabbed with it as in fencing because it was easier to recover.

Shwish shwish!

Kwatuk!

The Mad Dog had dodged off to the side to find an opportunity to attack, and took the sword with its teeth. It shook the sword vigorously to try and get rid of Cha Jun Sung.

“I knew you would bite it.”

He had anticipated that it would try to incapacitate his sword, the only weapon he had after the red fire. He had not let it bite his sword on purpose, but he had waited for this moment.

Swish.

The last grenade fell near the Mad Dog’s rear.

“Blow up.”

Kwang!

The Mad Dog could not avoid it and received the grenade’s blast on his rear.

Right before it exploded, Cha Jun Sung threw the sword and jumped. There was only a small timing window and the distance was too short to avoid the blast, so he was hit.

Kwajijijik!

Fragments of the grenade penetrated his plastic armor and ripped his impact tights. His protective helmet and glasses shattered as well.

“Ugh….. I won’t be able to save even a fourth of this.”

Cha Jun Sung laid down and complained. If he combined this mission’s reward with the mutants he had caught, he had earned around 6000 points.

If he thought about the equipment he would have to dispose of and the expendables he used, he had not earned as much as he had suffered.

“I can’t lower my expectations….. I’ll have to start party play soon.”

500 points was enough for manual labor. But missions under Level 2 were not fun because they were just an average massacre.

Even while he was playing the tutorial, he had directed himself to the safe play. Once he made up his mind however, he could not hold back.

He needed to hurry up and gather points to pay for body modification procedures and Level D equipment. If he worked in a party, he might gain fewer points than if he were acting alone, but there was also less waste.

In addition, his exhaustion would be distributed to different members of the party.

“I’ll go back, receive treatment, and prepare for a 3000 point mission.”

There was really no reason for him to go back to the briefing room unless it was to use the healing capsule. Body modification. Once synthesis becomes possible, he would visit it often.

He returned home once the mission was complete. This was when he needed to start being on guard the most. Mutants were mutants, but the party needed to be composed of people he could fully trust.

Life Mission was a place where one could gain anything but it was also a space free from others and from conventional rules. He would need to watch his back at every moment.